First pitch: Astros brace for Darvish with mostly lefties and switch-hitters

Share this:

Yu Darvish was virtually untouchable in his first start against the Astros – striking out 14 while surrendering only one hit (in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs). (Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle)

Bo Porter packed his lineup Saturday with mostly lefthanded and switch-hitting batters against Rangers righthander Yu Darvish, who was perfect through 8 2/3 innings in his previous outing against the Astros on April 2.

All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve and third baseman Matt Dominguez are the only exclusively righthanded batters in the lineup. Backup catcher Carlos Corporan started as designated hitter while slugger Chris Carter was out of the lineup.

“We tried to put as many lefthanders in the lineup as possible,” Porter said. “He’s pretty tough on righthanders. I think righties are hitting like .185 or something like that against (Darvish). With as many switch hitters that we have and also Castro and Pena, we set out to send out the best lineup that we could to give us the best chance against one of the best pitchers in baseball.”

Darvish, who became the first Rangers pitcher to lose a no-hitter after 8 2/3 innings in his last outing against the Astros, entered the night 2-0 in his career against Houston. On April 2, he struck out 14 and retired the first 26 in a row before Marwin Gonzalez singled between his legs.

“He pitches to both sides of the plate with great put-away stuff. It’s late life to his fastball,” Porter said. “When he wants to really reach back he can reach back and give you a little bit more power. When he wants to finesse you, he can actually minus 4 or 5-mph on his fastball. Everything comes out of the same slot. This guy is pretty good.”

Asked for the key to success against Darvish, Porter joked: “I’m just hoping he doesn’t show up tonight. That’s probably the best remedy.”

On a more serious note, Porter was optimistic that his batters would improve against Darvish.

“I think the last time we faced him being able to go back and look at that video and look at some of the other video, I think these guys will definitely make an adjustment that we didn’t make the last time,” Porter said. “I believe that these guys will make an adjustment and we should fare a whole lot better than we did last time.”